Beginners Corsetry - what to bring

Thank you for signing up for the Introduction to Corset Making Course which is due to take place at Sew Curvy HQ, 26 Cuckoo Lane, North Leigh, Oxfordshire.

The course will take place over 3 days from 9.30am-5pm Friday - Sunday. Participants are welcome to turn up from 09:00 onwards for coffee.

Over the three days we will cover the anatomy of a corset, measuring the body, fitting tips, and construction techniques and then we will use this information to construct a single layer overbust corset in spot brooch.

The workshop does not cover basic sewing skills and students should therefore be confident with a sewing machine and know how to work with fabric.

Other specialist tools such as pliers and cutters will be available for communal use.

Sewing machines

There is no need to bring a sewing machine as these are kindly provided for us by Janome UK. If you would like to bring your own, that is no problem either.

Please do bring your own thread if you wish to use a colour other than black or white.

Fabric

Coutil choice will be given on the day and is not available to pre-order. We use a thick broche or sateen coutil for the beginners course and this is available in a limited range of designs and colour. The object of the course is to learn techniques which can be applied to other fabrics and styles in the future. There is always black or white available, and sometimes there is skin/nude and grey, all in a various number of broche/jaquard designs from spots to flowers.

We are not using fashion fabric on the beginners course as it is a single layer corset which requires the use of specialist fabric. Not all coutil’s are suitable for this course so fabric choice is always offered on the day, depending on what is available in stock via Sew Curvy. Fabric stock is in turn, dependant upon what the mills have to offer at the time of purchase and the demand of customers over the preceding weeks. Nevertheless, we usually have a nice range with something to suit everyone. Corset making is not a mainstream activity anymore and the peripheral industries are sized accordingly. In other words, there are literally about 2 coutil mills left in the world, and they weave their fabrics according to the demand of the medical industry.

Buying corset making supplies

I have a small selection of corset making tools and gadgets for cash sales available in the classroom, however, if you would like to buy a more comprehensive range of corsetry supplies such as fabric and boning, please purchase these in advance via Sew Curvy. If you pay by Paypal I will refund your postage, if you want to pay cash on delivery, that is fine too, just pic the BACS option when paying.

I am unable to process orders while you are hereas collecting fabric and boning for potentialy 6 people is too time consuming and takes my attention away from the class.

Refreshments

Morning and afternoon refreshments will be provided along with a light sandwich lunch (vegetarian), and possibly a cake or two ;)